Hi Guys & Gals
I am a newbie to the forum and herald from the sunny city of Sydney, New South Wales in downunder Australia.
In August 2006 I forked out $34,500.00 of my hard earned Aussie dollars and purchased a new HD FLHTCUI Electraglide Classic from a local HD distributor andI have to say it has been a very dissapointing experience thus far.
Now Im not the sort of fella who outlays this sort of money with out doing my homework , so I set about educating myself on which cycle would suit me and my lovely wife so that we would get the maximum enjoyment that only motorcycling can give.
Just so everyone knows I am 50 yrs old and have owned many different bikes in my life Yamaha XS650 Twin, Kawasaki Z650, Honda GL1200, Honda GL1500, Suzuki GS1100GKE and 2 x kawasaki VN1500 Nomads ( carb & EFI ) just to name a few, and asI was saying I set about to investigate & read up on anything I could find on the HD brandwhich will my most likely be my last cycle,I have a mate who rides a2005TC88 Softail and he very generously let me take it for a extended ride ( 3hrs 120 miles )which sold me on theHD Brand. As you can see I like full dressed touring bikes with all the bells & whistles IE ( bags, fairing, music, intercom etc ) and I also love the feel of a V Twin rather than a silky smooth Goldwing ( been there done that ) and the Electra glide is the only bike on the market in OZ which has it all.
Now that you have the history lets move on to the problems I am experiencing, since day one my Glide has run extremely hot ( much hotter than my mates softail ) in fact so hot if you touched the left hand chrome engine casing it caused a severe burn even threw my jeans, my wife complained that the left exhaust was burning her ankle threw her boot.
So back to the dealer to see whats wrong, Im told by the salesman that sold me the bike that the TC88s do run hot when running in and that it would run cooler as the kilometers went up.At 1600klms ( 1000mls ) I returned it for its first service and as we were shortly heading off for a3000klm return trip to Queensland with my mate and his wife on the before mentioned Softail I ask the dealer to check the bike out thoroughly and see why it runs so hot compared to my mates Softail.AgainI was told its normal and not to worry about it. He suggested that I run the bike on Syn 3 and not the Dyno oil, my responce to this was that it is my understanding that once the bike was run in synthetic oil was best but until then dyno oil helps bed all the engine parts. He said that there is some truth to that claim but because of the heat problem I should go with the Syn 3, ( so Syn 3 it was ).
Straight from the very start of our trip my bike ran hot, pinged at the very sight of a hill and needed to go back to third gear just to reduce the load on the engine andkeep up with my mate ( average running speed was about 60 to 70 mph so I was not lugging the engine in any way ) .
Whilst in Queensland I purchased a set of slip ons which the manufacturersaid will still be steet legal and will not require any EFI alterations just a deeper sound and a little more free running.The bike did seem to run slightly cooler and the pinging not so bad on the trip home but it still ran hotter and slower than the softail.
I kept this set up until 6,500 klms and only rode on cooler days ( less than 25 degreesC - 75 degrees F ) then returned to the dealer complaining that it still ran to hot.
He then suggested that I install aSE air cleaner and stage 1 download, by now I was ready to try anything and forked out the $620.00 and hoped for the best.
Yes it does run cooler ( maybe 10% ) and the pinging is gone but I am getting 50klms less to a tank and it idles roughly.
Now for the the truth please. I am thinking of fitting the Bassani true duel earing header pipes and a Thunder max Auto tune EFI set up
to try and have the H

 

Welcome Glenn[sm=welcomesign.gif]


As for the heat issue, I will support the Stage I build with the use of synthetic oils in all 3 holes for superior protection and heat dissipation, however, I would also encourage a fuel management system that would allow complete manipulation of the A/F ratio in order to maximize all aspects of what you expect from your scoot vice just the HD download[:'(]. Having said this, I would check with the person YOU trust with tuning YOUR bike and ask what they suggest for the job of fuel management so that their familiarity with said product will offer you the best ride with the addition of dependability.I advise you to read up on the various fuel management systemsand, in addition with the tuner you trust, make an informed decision in paving the way to a more enjoyable ride. No use handing your tuner a device he/she has no idea how to setup if there is an alternative they are familiar with that will provide the same outcome via different approach.

 

I think you are on the right track with the tune. I have an 07 and they do run hot, my brothers 06 has the 95" kit and it runs hot as well. The best way to cool off the engine will be to finish what you started. The pipes and air cleaner with download are a start but the problem is the download still has the motor running lean to pass EPA standards. First do you have to have the emissions tested? If they do not test emissions then as stated find a dyno tuner in your area that is good with HD and ask him what he prefers to use as a tuner and have him install and tune the bike so you have a nice fat A/F ratio. There are also units that are self tuning but cost much more like the DTT I believe. After you have the A/F ratio so that it's not running lean add an oil cooler to help keep the engine that much cooler. I think with these mods the bike will be much more comfortable. As for the fuel mileage, I say if you are getting 38 to 42 don't worry about it.